Discussions - Production Lot

🎬 ‘Star Search,’ WBD drama, and FilmTok…
Star Search (Netflix) 📺 Netflix just launched real-time voting for its new live talent show. The streamer launched 'Star Search' this week, a live reboot of the '80s talent competition featuring real-time voting. While episodes air on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, viewers can rate performances 1-5 stars directly through the…
🌄 One last dance in Park City…
(Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) The Sundance Film Festival opens tomorrow for its final Utah edition before relocating to Boulder, Colorado in 2027. This year's fest carries emotional weight—it's the first since founder Robert Redford's death in September, and staff will also honor longtime communications chief Tammie…
🎬 Netflix, BBC, and microdramas…
🍿 Netflix wants to win the box office now. Somewhere, a theater owner just did a spit take. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos told the New York Times that if Netflix closes its $83B Warner Bros. acquisition, WB films will keep a 45-day theatrical window. Theater owners had feared Netflix would slash that to 17 days. Sarandos also tried…
Last Looks: Hans Zimmer to Compose HBO’s ‘Harry Potter,’ Anne Hathaway to Star in Paramount+ Series
The Dailies reports on the latest in development, greenlights, renewals, and cancellations. Hans Zimmer Film Development 🗒️ Studiocanal’s ‘Elsinore’ added Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Joe Locke and more to its cast as the feature film began shooting in the UK. (more) Spike Fearn is set to star in Apple’s ‘Running,’ directed…
🎬 MTV, Disney+, and IMAX…
📺 I want my MTV back. Paramount Skydance is on the hunt for a strategic partner to help revive the cable network, which has lost steam over the past two decades and now averages fewer than 200,000 primetime viewers. The company has talked to major music industry figures about acquiring a stake, hoping access to music…
🍿 Gen Z is actually going to the movies
The whole "Gen Z killed movie theaters" narrative might have been premature. Cinema United, the exhibition industry's largest trade group, just dropped its annual "Strength of Theatrical Exhibition" report, and the headline number is a doozy: Gen Z moviegoing frequency jumped 25% year-over-year. That’s the biggest increase…
Last Looks: Disney Developing Live-Action 'Gaston,' Netflix Cancels 'Boots'
The Dailies reports on the latest in development, greenlights, renewals, and cancellations. Gaston in Beauty and the Beast (Disney) Film Development 🗒️ Paramount adds Rupert Grint, Daisy Ridley, Sam Claflin and Charlie Murphy to Johnny Depp’s cast in ‘Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol.’ (more) Netflix picked up an untitled…
🎙️ Netflix is pulling podcasts off YouTube
Netflix is close to inking a deal with iHeartMedia to bring around 20 video podcasts exclusively to its platform, yanking them off YouTube entirely. Some details: The deal covers around 20 shows, including Charlamagne tha God's 'The Breakfast Club' and 'Stuff They Don't Want You To Know,' which already have massive YouTube…

Upcoming Events

2026 Sundance Institute Ignite X Adobe Fellowship
The Sundance Institute and Adobe are teaming up to find the next 10 Sundance Institute Ignite x Adobe Fellows—emerging filmmakers (ages 18 to 25) who are creating stories that bring their passion, voice, and perspective to life. The Sundance Institute Ignite program identifies and supports new voices and talent from the…
Illinois’ Enhanced Film Incentive: How Productions Can Maximize the 55% Stackable Tax Credit
The Illinois film incentive just underwent its most significant update in years—offering productions a competitive tax credit that rivals major filming hubs across the US and beyond. With the new 55% stackable tax credit and a program extension through 2038, Illinois has moved from a regional player to a global production…
NFMLA Film Festival | InFocus: Black Cinema
NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) hosts its February Monthly Film Festival and annual InFocus: Black Cinema program, spotlighting Black stories and emerging Black talent in front of and behind the camera in two shorts programs, along with a selection of short film highlights from NFMLA’s ongoing monthly program. Schedule…
Archive Talks: Hitchcock and Herrmann With Steven C. Smith
Archive Talks pairs leading historians and scholars with screenings of the moving image media that is the focus of their writing and research. Each program will begin with a special talk by the invited scholar that will introduce audiences to new insights, interpretations and contexts for the films and media being…
2026 MediaMKRS Summit
Join the Future of the Creative Workforce Each year, the MediaMKRS Summit brings together leaders and emerging talent across media, entertainment, technology, education, labor, philanthropy, and government to build a more equitable creative workforce. The 2026 MediaMKRS Summit focuses on access, ownership, and innovation -…